"I did not come to Baghdad to cover up the torture scandal,"

Rumsfeld and his entourage visited the infamous Abu Gharib prison, center of the Iraqi Torture scandal. Rumsfeld arrived in an armored vehicle and the Iraqi prisoners did not welcome him. The captives watched Rumsfeld from behind barbed wire. The French news agency, Associated France Press (AFP), correspondent at the prison said that some of the captives showed their fists to Rumsfeld, some gave him the thumbs down while others waved a torn Iraqi flag.

Before returning home, Rumsfeld addressed U.S. troops in Baghdad and said that if the U.S. gains United Nations Security Council support, many other countries would join the coalition forces and that would be great. The U.S. Defense Secretary suggested that U.S. troops to keep their calm and not let criticism get them down. Rumsfeld also accepted responsibility for the incidents and added that he quit reading the newspapers after the torture photos were exposed.

While these developments were occurring, English Deputy Defense Minister Adam Ingram said during a parliamentary speech that the torture photos published in the Daily Mirror newspaper were ‘definitely not taken in Iraq.’ Ingram pointed out that the type of truck in one of the photos was never in Iraq. He said that those involved in the photo incidents would be charged with a crime, but added that details would not be disclosed until the investigation ends.

Elsewhere, the Mosul (Musul) Police Chief denied a claim by Americans that beheaded American civilian Nick Berg was in custody. International condemnation of the brutal murder of Berg continues to increase.